SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY OF NEW AIDS-ASSOCIATED ADENOVIRUSES AMONG THE SAN-FRANCISCO MENS HEALTH STUDY

A seroprevalence survey to recently proposed adenovirus (AV) serotypes AV 48 and AV 49, isolated primarily from AIDS patients, was conducted among the San Francisco Men's Health Study cohort. This cohort of hom osexual, heterosexual, or bisexual HIV-seronegative and -seropositive men from selected San Francisco census tracts has been studied since 1 984. The presence or absence of type-specific antibody in 628 serum sp ecimens from 1989 was determined by microneutralization. Thirty of the se subjects (26 positive and four negative) were studied longitudinall y. Serum specimens taken at 6-month intervals from 1984 to 1993 were t ested to characterize antibody response and to document the advent of these new serotypes. Eight subjects were tested against five other AV serotypes for comparison. AV 48 and AV 49 seroprevalence rates were si gnificantly higher in HIV-seropositives, but infection was not limited to the immunocompromised. Sexual preference was not a significant det erminant for AV seroprevalence in HIV-seronegatives. However, the exte nt and duration of the neutralizing antibody response was strikingly d ifferent between homosexuals and heterosexuals: an endemic pattern of continuous reexposure over the 9-year period was seen in 90% of 19 hom osexuals, while five of six heterosexuals (83%) had an episodic patter n of exposure with antibody decline to undetectable levels. These data suggest that these viruses may be endemic in some part of the homosex ual population and that sexual transmission may be the primary source of continuous reexposure. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.